In May, I got to meet up with Megan, Anton, Kate, Jon and Anton's sister, Jenny in Maryland. We then drove down to Virginia Beach, VA. Jen and I took care of the kids while Meg and Anton attended a three day seminar focused on home schooling. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Jenny a little bit and to spend time with the children. After the kids were asleep in their room, Meg and Anton took turns coming to spend time with Jenny and me in ours.
The water was cold and harsh. There was a stiff, cold wind, too. Even though the photos look like a beach--compared to Florida's balmy shoreline--it was just a wide, sandy pathway with occasional, loud, cold splashes of water when we got too close to the ocean. Kate preferred to stay as far away from the water as possible--Jon found great satisfaction in running back and forth with the waves as they washed over the sand. I think, though, that he likes anything that moves about a lot.
Megan had a list of things that she wanted to experience--most of them had to do with eating various kinds of frozen sweet stuff.
One of my best memories of this trip will be of Kate. At one of the frozen yogurt/custard places we stopped (I think it was a Sweet Frog shoppe) we got our bowls and filled them with whatever yogurt and toppings we wanted. Anton told Kate that she had to wait until they had paid for the food before she could begin eating. During this time, the group was also waiting for me (spending some quality time with my body in the bathroom--that was a sly reference to the fact that I often spend over an hour on the toilet--and those I am with have to wait for me). Kate patiently sat, holding her bowl. When everyone had finished, we got ready to go and Kate began to cry.
She was still waiting for Anton to tell her that it was OK to eat her dessert! All that time and she was content to put off consuming her choice of melting yogurt and toppings--
At three years of age, she has an amazingly mature sense of propriety. She is also smart and very beautiful.
My favorite memory of Jon will be his decision to get Kate a peacock feather from the Petting Farm. She didn't want to go with us--so she stayed with Jenny and played (and sang to herself) quietly. The idea was for her to fall asleep and get some rest . . . didn't work. But the day turned magic when Jon presented her with the 3 1/2 foot long plume.
She decided that it was a magic feather and brought it with her everywhere we went from then on. Jon was charmed by the fact that his gift was so well received.
And so was I.
Another highlight was a Bounce House indoor play place. It was a store that had been converted into a huge selection of bounce houses. There was a place for the very young, the next-to-very young--all the way up to the adult. I had a great time. We went twice--one price got you unlimited visits for a week. Jon laughed and jumped and ran and climbed--and had a wonderful time. Kate played quietly in the area reserved for the very young. She didn't like the bounce places--but did enjoy riding in the Playschool cars and waundering about the other areas where nothing moved or made noise.
Sometimes just being in a new place is excitement enough. I hope that next time, though, Kate will decide to be brave enough to join us at the Petting Farm. I think the llamas and the miniature goats would really enjoy being near her.
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| Kate takes over the blanket. |
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| Aunt Jenny acts as consumer for Kate's home-made sand ice cream cones. |
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Jon gives me a real face--the next few faces were poses after
having eaten sand . . . yeah, I didn't get it either. |
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| Jon points out the jello-mold-topped mound of sand we called our "Sand Castle." |
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The ocean claims our prize. Kate is an unwilling spectator. She prefers the quieter,
"small ocean" kid pool at the hotel. |
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| Kate works with the water and the tools Megan found at Ikea. |
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| Jon squishes a ball before throwing it. |
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| Kate from behind. |
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| Jon asked me to take a picture of him and Megan. |
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| Jon faces a very determined tortoise. |
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| Jon in the laying house at the Petting Farm. |
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Jon didn't like being up so high at first, but by the time the ride was almost over,
he was quite comfortable. It helped that there was a school class there on a
field trip and as they watched him ride by, they began to chant "Pony! Pony! Pony!" |
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Jon discovered that one of the llamas liked being fed stray bits of hay that Jon collected from off of the ground.
It was cool to watch Jon so at home around such big animals. |
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Just as we were getting ready to leave, one of the miniature goats gave birth to triplets.
We missed the big event--thankfully--but we got to see them here, 24 minutes old. |
